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2 Types of Concrete Floor Staining

Concrete flooring is becoming more and more popular in many homes across the country. People love concrete flooring because it’s a great way to keep everything crisp and clean, prevent allergies, and it simply looks nice.

Even though it already looks good to begin with, you might want to change its appearance. Fortunately, you can easily do just that by staining it. Staining your floor is super easy, but before you can even do it, you have to decide what kind of stain you actually want to use. There are currently two types of stains you can choose from.

Acid-Based Stain
The first type of stain you can choose is called an acid-based stain. The color palette of an acid-based stained is actually pretty limited, but it’s known for being able to last a pretty long time. An acid-based concrete floor coating won’t peel or chip over time, so it’s perfect in a setting where you are constantly going to be walking around. It is translucent, and it typically comes in earth tones which can help bring more of a natural feel to your space. Usually, it will appear pretty natural and can mimic stone or wood.

One important thing to know about acid-based stains is that you need to make sure you clean the surface as soon as you’re done applying it. Since this concrete floor coating is acidic, you don’t want to have any of the residual chemical laying around. This is especially crucial if your floors are home to animals or children.

Water-Based Stain
The other type of stain is a water-based stain. Unlike an acid-based stain, this type comes in many different colors, and it’s relatively easy to come by. It also pretty easy to apply and doesn’t really require a lot of cleanup afterwards. Water-based stains aren’t as toxic as an acid-based stain, and can even be a little bit more environmentally friendly.

The one downside of water-based stains is that they do dry and stick to a surface pretty quickly. So, if you were hoping to fix a mistake that you made with the stain, you’re probably not going to be able to do so. It’s not impossible, But it’s pretty challenging to remove a mistake. This is unlike epoxy coating, which typically takes between six and eight hours to cure. Any polyaspartic coatings cure much faster.

Before you stain concrete, you need to decide what kind of concrete floor coating you want to use. Take a look at the two listed above to determine which is best for you.